Henry Lawson said deafness was ‘in a great measure responsible for my writing’. Wright said hers was ‘part of the conditions I live under’. Their disability was inherent to their creativity.
When British colonials came to Australia, they stuck to their winter Christmas traditions of roast meats and plum puddings. But over the centuries, Australians found their own ways to celebrate.
Walter Withers, ‘The Drover’, 1912, oil on canvas. A recent book reinterprets Henry Lawson’s The Drover’s Wife in 99 ways, offering new perspectives on the classic short story.
Wikimedia Commons
Ryan O'Neill’s book reimagines a classic Australian short story. He retells The Drover’s Wife 99 times in various forms, including a poem, an Amazon review, and even as a Cosmo quiz.
Summer afternoon, Templestowe by Louis Buvelot, 1866. The bush was commonly seen by 19th-century writers as a place of despair.
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White settlers and authors once saw the bush as an alien, despairing place. But writers from Tim Winton to Rachael Treasure now portray the land in complex and optimistic ways.
Waverley Cemetery in Sydney where Henry and Bertha Lawson rest.
Winston Yang
When Brian the farmer finished his poem the crowd went wild. Small wonder he earned the People’s Choice Award on the night. We were at a so-called poetry “slam” at a country hall in a place so tiny it…